retoorandClaude Sonnet 5
9dbd1fe667
- Plexer: always-active terminal multiplexing. NativePlexerController/ TmuxPlexerController share one interface, chosen by which env var is already set (TAI_PLEXER_SOCKET vs TMUX_PANE); NativePlexerBackend is the pty.fork()-based wrapper (raw mode, SIGWINCH resize forwarding, a Unix-socket control protocol, continuous session logging, a Ctrl+A prefix key distinct from tmux's own Ctrl+B). Auto-wraps new interactive shells via a .bashrc hook mirroring the existing command-not-found install pattern, gated on $TMUX/$TAI_PLEXER_ACTIVE/ a $HOME/.tai-no-plexer bypass. New plexer_send/read/type/status tools, env-gated on a detected controller. - tests/container.py + docker-compose.yml + tests/docker/Dockerfile: a disposable podman/docker image for the tests that must never touch a real machine (installing the plexer hook into a real ~/.bashrc, a live tmux session). Required suite (test_seal.py, test_tai.py, tests/plexer.py, tests/bashrc.py) gates the result; tests/rag.py runs as best-effort since its real-LLM dependency can't be satisfied inside a disposable container with no nested engine. - tests/bashrc.py: real end-to-end hook install + bash -i auto-wrap, anti-recursion, tmux-active skip, non-interactive skip, a live TmuxPlexerController test, and an install/uninstall round-trip. - tests/plexer.py: NativePlexerBackend under a real pty, plus a dedicated robustness pass (file permissions, >64KB payload framing, a malformed control request, a genuine self-deadlock fix in the write-to-child path). - tai_test.py: the shared async process-driving framework (pipe/pty transport, group-wide kill-and-reap, a StdinBridge for --interactive) both test files build on. - ChatClient last-resort backend: when there's no local opencode CLI but the sandbox box is already running, install opencode into it (official Node tarball, not apt -- apt's nodejs/npm pull in webpack/babel/jest as transitive deps) and route through it instead of giving up. Only reachable after the first retry round already failed everything else; never creates the box itself. TmuxPlexerController.status() fixed to use `list-panes` instead of `display-message -p`, which silently fell back to the default pane instead of erroring against a dead target. - Fix 4 pre-existing test_tai.py bugs surfaced by running it in a clean environment for the first time: two stale mock signatures (subprocess.run's stdout= kwarg, Chat.complete's deadline= kwarg), one $TMUX-dependent catalog assertion, one tty-dependent color assertion. - research/: a sourced research archive (Source Dossier/Citation Card/Conclusion tiers) backing the above design decisions, with its own audit.py consistency checker. - .gitignore: fix a blanket *.md rule that was about to silently drop the entire research/ archive from version control; add __pycache__/ and the one-off debug transcript this session started from. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
51 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
51 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
# shellous — Async Processes and Pipelines
|
|
|
|
## Metadata
|
|
|
|
| Field | Value |
|
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Institute | Molodetz Institute — Research & Retrieval Division |
|
|
| Subject | async-pty-process-testing |
|
|
| Document type | Source Dossier |
|
|
| Tier | 1 |
|
|
| Source title | shellous: Async Processes and Pipelines |
|
|
| Source URL | https://pypi.org/project/shellous |
|
|
| Source publisher / author | shellous project (PyPI) |
|
|
| Source type | repository |
|
|
| Source date (published) | Unknown — not stated |
|
|
| Date researched | 2026-10-09 |
|
|
| Researched by | tai (agent), model: Claude Sonnet 5, on behalf of retoor |
|
|
| Research method | web search synthesis |
|
|
| Confidence | Medium |
|
|
| Status | Active |
|
|
|
|
## Summary
|
|
|
|
shellous is an asyncio-native subprocess library. Its feature list includes running a program attached to a pseudo-terminal (pty, Unix-only) and `send()`/`expect()` methods for interactively driving a subprocess by pattern-matching its output — functionally the closest existing library to what `tai_test.py` ended up building itself.
|
|
|
|
## Key findings
|
|
|
|
- shellous explicitly supports pty-backed subprocess execution, and documents that this is Unix-only.
|
|
- It offers `send()`/`expect()` primitives, i.e. "write input, then wait for a pattern in the output" — the same shape as `tai_test.py`'s `ManagedProcess.send_line()` + `wait_for_pattern()`.
|
|
- It is built on asyncio, unlike pexpect (see `pypi-pexpect.md`), which is synchronous.
|
|
|
|
## Pros / strengths
|
|
|
|
- Proof that the exact combination `tai_test.py` needed — asyncio-native, pty-capable, expect-style interaction — is a real, previously-solved design space, not a one-off idea.
|
|
- Having `send()`/`expect()` as named primitives validates `tai_test.py`'s own `send_line()`/`wait_for_pattern()` naming and shape.
|
|
|
|
## Cons / limitations / caveats
|
|
|
|
- Only the top-level feature list was reviewed, not the actual implementation or its API stability/maturity; no version number, changelog, or usage examples were independently inspected.
|
|
- `tai_test.py` did not adopt shellous as a dependency — it is pure stdlib (`pty`, `asyncio`) by design, consistent with the `tai.py` project's own zero-dependency rule, so this source served as validation of the approach rather than as a library to use.
|
|
|
|
## Relevance to tai
|
|
|
|
Confirmed that building a pty-capable, asyncio-native, expect-style subprocess controller is a well-trodden pattern, which gave confidence in `tai_test.py`'s own from-scratch implementation (`ManagedProcess`) rather than needing to invent an unprecedented design.
|
|
|
|
## Changelog
|
|
|
|
| Date | Change |
|
|
|---|---|
|
|
| 2026-10-09 | Initial dossier created. |
|